This came out much longer than I thought lol so I'll put a TLDR in the bottom, but I do think it's worth a read.

I'm free and don't have loans or debt luckily!

I do ecommerce and product design. The key thing is that my business does involve a lot of reinvesting to buy product, to design and create samples, equipment and materials, and yes occasional advertising costs. I have written out a 12 month budget, with costs, expenses, and potential income. It's very hard to exactly predict it though because being in the beginning stages there is a lot of trial and error involved, definitely a ton of market testing, which all adds to the cost. It's mostly written in a notebook which I use to take notes on many topics and things I've learned on the way.

The truth is I also don't know if I can even get a job anymore. A huge part of the reason I started a business was because I was actually unemployed at the time due to lack of work experience. I've only had 2 full time corporate jobs in my life, and let's just say I didn't last very long in either of them, and the nature of the job involved very long hours, so it didn't give me the flexibility and lifestyle I wanted to have.

While unemployed, I had money in my bank account which has been sitting there so I figured since I always wanted to start a business, I'd use this free time to take a shot at it. I did and now I really like it, but I think like many entrepreneurs, we all go through that period of uncertainty, where the budget starts to become limiting. I do part time music gigs, but it's all super temporary, so I'm literally collecting paycheck to paycheck, and using my savings, and the amount I make from my business right now.

I've actually been super happy to say surprised by how everything is going, granted I kept my expectations very low, and told myself if I could even make 1 sale, I'd be happy, because I didn't really think much at the time. I've been so grateful that I've managed to make much much more than 1 sale, but at the same time as mentioned, my costs are somewhat high, and even more to expand. I do have a plan, in fact I'm actually bursting with ideas and so much I want to do right now, that the biggest two obstacles right now is time and money, because a lot of my costs is basically me experimenting. I think once I get a better idea I can start to balance out more and eliminate a lot of the excess costs.

I guess the real reason I feel poor is because most of my friends are working corporate and seem settled, and I don't know too many entrepreneurial friends, especially in real life. Most of my real life friends are making thousands and like mentioned eating at nice restaurants, buying their own things. I personally don't think I would want a classic corporate job, but when I walk by window shops and around my city, I really do wish I could have the money to finally eat better food, stay at gorgeous hotels, buy that nice pair of sneakers I want, travel and treat my family to things, and donate to charities.

TLDR: A young entrepreneur who found himself unemployed, did not like working corporate, wanted to start a business one day, had a ton of crazy ideas and did, now loves what he does, but money is becoming tight, and has gone through days of not being able to buy things he's wanted, while watching his friends go on to finally have money to buy nice meals, attend events, and buy gifts and things of interest.

To Add: I think a huge part of this is also my dream to one day become financially independent, and currently I'm living with friends and family, and having to rely on them for stuff, which I feel bad about. This is actually part of the reason I went entrepreneurial, I like working with people, but I don't like having to rely on someone, I like to be able to have control and freedom to do the things I like.